This is the Continuous Integration Build of FHIR (will be incorrect/inconsistent at times).
See the Directory of published versions
FHIR Infrastructure Work Group | Maturity Level: 3 | Trial Use | Security Category: Not Classified | Compartments: Patient, Practitioner, RelatedPerson |
Basic is used for handling concepts not yet defined in FHIR, narrative-only resources that don't map to an existing resource, and custom resources not appropriate for inclusion in the FHIR specification.
Basic is a special type of resource. Unlike all other resources, it doesn't correspond to a specific pre-defined HL7 concept. Instead, it's a placeholder for any resource-like concept that isn't already defined in the HL7 specification.
The Basic resource is intended for use in three circumstances:
There's also a fourth circumstance: An implementer wishes to convey information that could/should be conveyed using a standard resource, however they want to represent the information in a custom format that isn't aligned with the official resource's elements. While this resource would be the preferred way of meeting that use-case because it will at least be wire-format compatible, such a use would not be conformant because making use of the Basic resource would prevent the healthcare-related information from being safely processed, queried and analyzed by other conformant systems.
Implementers don't need to be concerned with which of the three categories their desired resource fits within. If they need a resource and it clearly doesn't fit one of the ones currently defined, they should use Basic.
Note to Implementers: That the inter-version extension mechanism might be used to allow
Basic
to represent resources that don't exist in the FHIR version being used for exchange, but no specific guidance is provided. If implementers are interested in having this further defined, they should share their use-case on http://chat.fhir.org and the committee might consider publishing out an implementation guide providing further guidance.
Basic defines only a minimal set of data elements - those necessary to identify what kind of resource it represents and those necessary to support resource compartmenting. All other data elements are represented using the extension mechanism. It's entirely possible to have a Basic resource instance with nothing other than narrative, a subject and code. And, in practice, that's all many systems will understand.
The Basic resource can potentially represent any resource. However, wherever another resource can be used instead of Basic, that resource should always be used.
Other resources that are commonly used to capture 'generic' data are listed below:
No references for this Resource.
Structure
Name | Flags | Card. | Type | Description & Constraints |
---|---|---|---|---|
Basic | TU | DomainResource | Resource for non-supported content Elements defined in Ancestors: id, meta, implicitRules, language, text, contained, extension, modifierExtension | |
identifier | Σ | 0..* | Identifier | Business identifier |
code | ?!Σ | 1..1 | CodeableConcept | Kind of Resource Binding: Basic Resource Types (Example) |
subject | Σ | 0..1 | Reference(Any) | Identifies the focus of this resource |
created | Σ | 0..1 | dateTime | When created |
author | Σ | 0..1 | Reference(Practitioner | PractitionerRole | Patient | RelatedPerson | Organization | Device | CareTeam) | Who created |
Documentation for this format |
See the Extensions for this resource
UML Diagram (Legend)
XML Template
<Basic xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language --> <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension --> <identifier><!-- 0..* Identifier Business identifier --></identifier> <code><!-- 1..1 CodeableConcept Kind of Resource --></code> <subject><!-- 0..1 Reference(Any) Identifies the focus of this resource --></subject> <created value="[dateTime]"/><!-- 0..1 When created --> <author><!-- 0..1 Reference(CareTeam|Device|Organization|Patient|Practitioner| PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson) Who created --></author> </Basic>
JSON Template
{ "resourceType" : "Basic", // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // Business identifier "code" : { CodeableConcept }, // R! Kind of Resource "subject" : { Reference(Any) }, // Identifies the focus of this resource "created" : "<dateTime>", // When created "author" : { Reference(CareTeam|Device|Organization|Patient|Practitioner| PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson) } // Who created }
Turtle Template
@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> . [ a fhir:Basic; fhir:nodeRole fhir:treeRoot; # if this is the parser root # from Resource: .id, .meta, .implicitRules, and .language # from DomainResource: .text, .contained, .extension, and .modifierExtension fhir:identifier ( [ Identifier ] ... ) ; # 0..* Business identifier fhir:code [ CodeableConcept ] ; # 1..1 Kind of Resource fhir:subject [ Reference(Any) ] ; # 0..1 Identifies the focus of this resource fhir:created [ dateTime ] ; # 0..1 When created fhir:author [ Reference(CareTeam|Device|Organization|Patient|Practitioner|PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson) ] ; # 0..1 Who created ]
Structure
Name | Flags | Card. | Type | Description & Constraints |
---|---|---|---|---|
Basic | TU | DomainResource | Resource for non-supported content Elements defined in Ancestors: id, meta, implicitRules, language, text, contained, extension, modifierExtension | |
identifier | Σ | 0..* | Identifier | Business identifier |
code | ?!Σ | 1..1 | CodeableConcept | Kind of Resource Binding: Basic Resource Types (Example) |
subject | Σ | 0..1 | Reference(Any) | Identifies the focus of this resource |
created | Σ | 0..1 | dateTime | When created |
author | Σ | 0..1 | Reference(Practitioner | PractitionerRole | Patient | RelatedPerson | Organization | Device | CareTeam) | Who created |
Documentation for this format |
See the Extensions for this resource
XML Template
<Basic xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language --> <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension --> <identifier><!-- 0..* Identifier Business identifier --></identifier> <code><!-- 1..1 CodeableConcept Kind of Resource --></code> <subject><!-- 0..1 Reference(Any) Identifies the focus of this resource --></subject> <created value="[dateTime]"/><!-- 0..1 When created --> <author><!-- 0..1 Reference(CareTeam|Device|Organization|Patient|Practitioner| PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson) Who created --></author> </Basic>
JSON Template
{ "resourceType" : "Basic", // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // Business identifier "code" : { CodeableConcept }, // R! Kind of Resource "subject" : { Reference(Any) }, // Identifies the focus of this resource "created" : "<dateTime>", // When created "author" : { Reference(CareTeam|Device|Organization|Patient|Practitioner| PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson) } // Who created }
Turtle Template
@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> . [ a fhir:Basic; fhir:nodeRole fhir:treeRoot; # if this is the parser root # from Resource: .id, .meta, .implicitRules, and .language # from DomainResource: .text, .contained, .extension, and .modifierExtension fhir:identifier ( [ Identifier ] ... ) ; # 0..* Business identifier fhir:code [ CodeableConcept ] ; # 1..1 Kind of Resource fhir:subject [ Reference(Any) ] ; # 0..1 Identifies the focus of this resource fhir:created [ dateTime ] ; # 0..1 When created fhir:author [ Reference(CareTeam|Device|Organization|Patient|Practitioner|PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson) ] ; # 0..1 Who created ]
Additional definitions: Master Definition XML + JSON, XML Schema/Schematron + JSON Schema, ShEx (for Turtle) + see the extensions, the spreadsheet version & the dependency analysis
Path | ValueSet | Type | Documentation |
---|---|---|---|
Basic.code | BasicResourceTypes | Example | This value set defines codes for resources not yet supported by (or which will never be supported by) FHIR. Many of the codes listed here will eventually be turned into official resources. However, there is no guarantee that any particular resource will be created nor that the scope will be exactly as defined by the codes presented here. Codes in this set will be deprecated if/when formal resources are defined that encompass these concepts. |
Technically, nothing prevents implementers from going off and defining their own resources containing whatever data elements they wish. However, doing so causes several issues:
All of these concerns are mitigated when there's an assumption that the custom resource will only be used within a narrow constrained environment where all participants will be aware of the semantics, will be using the same custom schemas and there's no chance of collisions. However, HL7's experience is that closed implementation environments rarely remain that way over the long term. Eventually data will need to be shared with others outside the closed environment and all of the above issues will again come into play.
Therefore, use of 'custom' resources is NOT considered to be conformant with FHIR. While the use of extensions may make the Basic resource slightly more complex and less visually appealing, it is the only safe and approved mechanism for sharing resource concepts not representable using standard HL7-defined resources.
It is expected that future versions of the interface tooling will be able to generate object interfaces on the basis of profiles. Where this occurs, the complexity of custom resource elements being expressed as extensions should be transparent to the internal code of systems that support that particular variant of the Basic resource. This should further reduce the cost of using 'Basic' as opposed to custom resources.
NOTE: This position is subject to change based on implementation experience. Alternative mechanisms for handling custom resource requirements in a safe manner may be explored. Ideas around alternative technical strategies for managing this issue are welcome.
Documents are constructed of sections, where a key part of each section is the narrative. The narratives are stitched together to form the overall text of the document. Many document sections will correspond neatly to resources that are already defined - List, DiagnosticReport, FamilyMemberHistory, etc. However, oddly enough, alignment with FHIR resources isn't always in mind when clinicians and others design documents, and some sections won't neatly align with the boundaries of resources. Sometimes there's simply a need for a place where a document author can say "stuff" without any particular constraints on what they may choose to talk about. Basic is intended to provide a mechanism to handle those circumstances.
Wherever possible, the "standard" FHIR resources should be used, even for narrative-only content. That's because subsequent revisions of the narrative-only content might choose to encode pieces or even all of the narrative content. Encoding can occur with "Basic" as well. Extensions can point to other resources (contained or stand-alone) that fully encode pieces of the free-form narrative found in the Basic resource. If no appropriate other resource exists for the meaning of the content, extensions can also be used.
There are several good practices to follow when making use of the Basic resource:
None of the standard resources will have direct references to Basic, aside from those that allow linking to "Any" resource. As a result, most references to "Basic" will need to be performed using extensions.
Search parameters for this resource. See also the full list of search parameters for this resource, and check the Extensions registry for search parameters on extensions related to this resource. The common parameters also apply. See Searching for more information about searching in REST, messaging, and services.
Name | Type | Description | Expression | In Common |
author | reference | Who created | Basic.author (Practitioner, Organization, CareTeam, Device, Patient, PractitionerRole, RelatedPerson) |
|
code | token | Kind of Resource | Basic.code | 21 Resources |
created | date | When created | Basic.created | |
identifier | token | Business identifier | Basic.identifier | 65 Resources |
patient | reference | Identifies the focus of this resource | Basic.subject.where(resolve() is Patient) (Patient) |
65 Resources |
subject | reference | Identifies the focus of this resource | Basic.subject (Any) |